[CPEO-BIF] Gowanus, Brooklyn (NY) property sale

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[At the risk of (or in the hope of) restarting our debate about the 
redevelopment impact of placing Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal on the 
"Superfund" National Priorities List, I suggest that this article has 
not made a persuasive case that the sale of this property 35% below its 
asking price resulted from listing. Would/should re-zoning occurred if 
EPA had not listed the blighted, contaminated canal? To revisit the old 
discussion on this list, go to 
http://www.cpeo.org/lists/brownfields/2009/index.html. I believe the 
first posting was in April, 2009. - LS]


Gowanus property sold with 35% discount
Sale price flattened by area's subsequent designation as Superfund 
cleanup site; Boymelgreen once hoped to build large mixed-use 
development there.

By Amanda Fung
Crain's New York Business
February 11, 2011

Storage Deluxe closed on its acquisition of the Jewish Press building in 
Gowanus, Brooklyn for $6.5 million last week—35% below the asking price 
put on the property when it first went on the market two years ago.

The four-story industrial property hit the market shortly before the 
Gowanus Canal, which the building is adjacent to, was designated a 
federal Superfund clean-up site. As a result of the designation — which 
labels Gowanus as one of the country's most hazardous waste sites — a 
proposed rezoning of the area for residential use was stalled, making 
the building unattractive to private developers. At one time, the 
85,000-square-foot property, located at 338 Third Ave., was eyed by then 
high-flying developer Shaya Boylmelgreen, who aimed to convert the 
warehouse into a large mixed-use development, part of his envisioned 
Gowanus Village.

"Storage is a perfect fit for the building from a development 
standpoint, and the most economical," said Ofer Cohen, president of 
brokerage TerraCRG, which represented Jewish Press in the sale. "The 
building has a lot of history, but the economy collapsed, the 
residential rezoning stalled and the area became a superfund site, so 
it's not clear whether or when it could be converted to residential."

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20110211/REAL_ESTATE/110219969#

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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